Oil drilling on city property near M-52 finds oil

An oil well on property owned by the city of Adrian along M-52 a short distance south of Howell Highway has struck oil, Adrian Mayor Greg DuMars said Wednesday.

The well, on property commonly referred to as Witt farm, is the second of two oil wells drilled so far on city-owned property and the first one to find oil. Workers began drilling the well Nov. 30. The first well was drilled in Heritage Park.

Savoy Energy Limited Partnership of Traverse City has lease agreements on about 1,184 acres of city-owned property to explore for oil.

No oil has been pumped from the well yet, DuMars said. The city should have some indication by the first of the year about the amount of oil that can be retrieved, though he was told it may take three months to know how good the well is, DuMars said.

The city will be paid royalties on oil extracted from the well. DuMars said he was given his information about the well from city administrator Dane Nelson, who received it from Savoy president Bill Sperry.